The Intellect

 

         The INTELLECT, the power by which we think and know, embraces several distinct faculties; Perception, Memory, Imagination, Understanding, and Intuition.

         PERCEPTION is the power by which we gain a knowledge of external objects through the senses. It is the faculty by which we gain a knowledge of objects and their qualities. Its products are ideas of external objects and of the qualities of objects. The ideas which we possess of persons, places, things, etc., are mainly given by perception.

         MEMORY is the power by which we retain and recall knowledge. It enables us to hold fast to the knowledge we have acquired, and also to recall it when we wish to use it. These two functions of the Memory are distinguished as Retention and Recollection. Besides these, the memory also gives us a representation of that which it recalls, and recognizes it as something of our past experience.

         IMAGINATION is the power by which we form ideal conceptions. It is the power of forming mental images by uniting different parts of objects given by perception, and also of creating ideals of objects different from anything we have perceived. Thus, I can conceive of a flying horse by uniting my ideas of wings and a horse; or I can imagine a landscape or a strain of music different from anything I have ever seen or heard. Imagination is thus the power of ideal creation.

         UNDERSTANDING is the power by which we compare objects of thought and derive abstract and general ideas and truths. It is the elaborative power of the mind; it takes the materials furnished by the other faculties and works them up into new products. Its products are abstract and general ideas, truths, laws, causes, etc.

         INTUITION is the controlling power of the Intellect which gives us ideas and thoughts not furnished by the senses directly nor elaborated by the Understanding.

         Intuition has been given by different philosophers different names, such as Common Sense, Regulative Power, Reason. It seems to correspond to what was known to the Greek philosophy as the nous, the intelligence.

         The products of the Intuitive power are Primary Ideas and Primary Truths. A Primary Idea is one that is not given by the senses nor derived from other ideas. Primary Ideas are notions which lie back of and condition all other ideas.

         Primary Ideas may be divided into three distinct classes: the intuitions of the True, the intuitions of the Beautiful, and the intuitions of the Good.

         The intuitions of the True are those primary ideas such as Space, Time, Number, Identity, Cause, Consciousness, Existence, Infinity, Whole, Parts, etc. The intuitions of the Beautiful are of three principal classes of primary ideas; the Beautiful proper, the Sublime, and the Ludicrous. The intuitions of the Good are first the primary idea of the right; second, the primary idea of obligation; third, the primary idea of merit and demerit in respect to moral action.

         A truth is a true thought; that is, it is a mental predication which is true. A Primary Truth is a truth which lies back of and condition all other truths. It is the source of all truths; from it other truths are derived; while it is derived from and depends on no other truth. As examples of primary truths, we mention the axioms of mathematics and logic. Thus, "The whole is greater than any of its parts," and "Things that are equal to the same thing are equal to each other," are examples of primary truths. Every primary truth involves at least one primary idea; as "All bodies must occupy space," and "Every event must have a cause." Here Space and Cause, in these two truths, are primary ideas.

         To summarize: the retention function of Memory is the power of retaining knowledge; the recollection function of Memory is the power by which we awaken what lies dormant in the mind; Imagination is the power the mind has of holding up vividly before itself the thoughts which it has recalled into consciousness; Understanding is the power by which we judge relations; and Intuition is the power that gives birth to those necessary and universal principles which control all thinking.

         It is evident that knowledge must be retained before it can be recalled, that it must be recalled before it can be held up for contemplation, that it must be held up before the mind before its relations can be judged of, and that the whole thinking process must go on before it can be controlled or regulated. Logically, therefore, the activities of the several faculties do follow an order of succession, but practically the whole goes on simultaneously. Still, these activities differ relatively in degree during the different periods of life.

         Further Discussion of The Understanding. The Understanding embraces several distinct faculties or forms of mental activity. These are Abstraction, Conception, Judgment, and Reasoning.

         ABSTRACTION is the power of forming abstract ideas. It is the power by which the mind draws a quality away from its object, and makes of it a distinct object of thought. Its products are abstract ideas, such as hardness, softness, color, etc. The naming of abstract ideas gives us abstract terms. The term Abstraction is derived from ab, from, and traho, I draw, and signifies a drawing from.

         CONCEPTION is the power of forming general ideas. By it we take several particular ideas, and unite their common properties, and thus form a general idea which embraces them all. The products of Conception are general ideas, or ideas of classes; as horse, bird, man, etc. The naming of general ideas gives us common terms. This faculty is often called generalization; but the term Conception is more appropriate, and is the one generally adopted by logicians. The term Conception is derived from con, together, and capio, I take; and signifies a taking together.

         JUDGEMENT is the power of perceiving the agreement or disagreement of two objects of thought. It is the power of comparison. It compares one object directly with another, and gives us a proposition. A proposition is a judgment expressed in words. Thus, a bird is an animal, is a judgment expressed. The term Judgment is applied to both the mental faculty and its product.

         REASONING is the power of comparing two ideas through their relation to a third. It is a process of indirect or mediate comparison. It deals with three objects of thought and requires three propositions. Thus, suppose I wish to compare A and B, and perceiving no relation between them, see that A equals C, and B equals C, and thus infer that A equals B; such an inference is an act of reasoning.

         The form in which reasoning is expressed is called a Syllogism. A Syllogism consists of three propositions so related that one of them is an inference from the other two. Two of these propositions are called the premises and the third the conclusion. Thus, in the above example the two propositions, "A equals C" and "B equals C," are the premises; and "A equals B" is the conclusion.

         Reasoning is of two kinds; Inductive Reasoning and Deductive Reasoning. INDUCTIVE REASONING is the process of deriving a general truth from particular truths. Thus, if I find that heat expands several metals, as zinc, iron, copper, etc., I may infer that heat will expand all metals. Such an inference of a general truth from the particular facts is called Induction. Inductive Reasoning proceeds upon the principle that what is true of the many is true of the whole.

         DEDUCTIVE REASONING is the process of deriving a particular truth from a general truth. Thus, from the general proposition that heat expands all metals, I may infer by Deduction that heat will expand any particular metal, as silver. Deduction proceeds upon the principle that what is true of the whole is true of the parts.